A youth centre in Tottenham which was forced to close last year due to council cuts is to re-open.

Bruce Grove Youth Centre in Bruce Grove was a daily drop in centre for 13 to 17-year olds until it closed at the end of March last year.

The council announced yesterday that re-opening the centre is one of its 12 priorities for the next year, and aims for the service to be back in action by April.

The drop-in centre, which was open from Monday to Friday, 3.30pm to 9pm, offered a one-to-one counselling service for people living in Tottenham and Haringey, while giving them a space to meet friends and play basketball in the courts on site.

The council closed the service after needing to slash £84million by 2014 from its budget due to severe cuts made by the Government.

The centre has since opened briefly since the cuts - on Tuesday and Thursday evenings during the school summer holidays last July to August.

The council list of priorities for the next year includes upgrading the area around Bruce Grove and improving Holcombe Market, bringing “Olympic excitement” to Tottenham through a summer festival and hosting pop-up activities at empty sites in the High Road.

The council is in talks about where in the budget the money to finance the youth service will come from.

The money could come from the One Borough One Future fund which is a one-off cash injection of £1.2m into a variety of projects throughout the borough.

Zena Tafari, who protested against the cuts outside the council budget meeting on February 28 and has lived in Tottenham for 14 years, said: “This is fantastic news for the young people."

Mrs Tafari was a member of the Six8Four Centre in Tottenham High Road, which helped people with mental health problems, until it was closed due to council cuts in January.

She said: “There is so much demand for all these services but I am really glad that all the young people in Tottenham can go.

"There are so many young people that live in estates and this place can give them some positive creativity.”